Sunday, February 04, 2007

Grand Lodge of Nebraska

I had the honor of being a part of the workshops for the 150th annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Nebraska this past week in Kearney, Nebraska. The brethren of Nebraska were exceedingly gracious, friendly and fun, and I had a fantastic time. Many thanks to the folks there who helped make it a great couple of days (you guys have a gem in your Grand Lodge office in the form of Michelle, in case no one told you lately).

My very special thanks go to Most Worshipful Brother Scott Krieger, GM in 2006, and his wife Tammy. I met them last year as I visited grand lodges in Iowa and Minnesota, and I owe them both a tremendous note of thanks for their kindness and their warm welcome. Nebraska had fine leadership last year with Scott at the helm, and Nebraska's Masons can be proud of their accomplishments. What I saw and heard during their Grand Lodge session make it clear that the men poised to lead Nebraska's Masons into the future truly have vision and commitment.

Congratulations to their new Grand Master, MWBro. Dean Skokan. He promised all assembled lodges that he would grant dispensation for almost anything to allow them wide latitude to experiment, innovate and find new solutions to the problems that plague them. His quote was "You can't steer a parked car. This fraternity has been acting like a stubborn mule for too long. I'm here to kick it in the ass." Bravo, my friend.

I was especially honored to share the stage during the workshops withBrother Akram Elias, Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. If you saw A&E/The History Channel's program, Mr. Dreyfuss Goes to Washington, Akram co-produced it with Richard Dreyfuss and wrote the original treatment for the show.

Brother Elias presented his program, Unveiling The Masonic Symbolism of Washington, DC. I assure the brethren, there was no advance collusion between the two of us, but it sure seemed like it as he touched on topics I brought up, and Solomon's Builders certainly covers much of what he spoke about. If you haven't seen Brother Elias' program, he is a powerful speaker, with an exciting and powerful viewpoint concerning Freemasonry and the founding of America. The most stirring thing he said touched the hearts of every Mason in the room. "I was born in Lebanon," he said. "I am an American by CHOICE, not by birth. I choose to be an American because of this Great Experiment created by Freemasons."

The Grand Lodge banquet was enlivened by almost 600 people performing the 7 traditional toasts, which expanded to about a dozen before it was over, with *YIPE!* real wine and real firing glasses, making a great show of the proper cannon fire procedures, which became big, loud, noisy and hilarious by the end of the evening. It was the one and only Grand Lodge banquet I have ever attended that people hated to see end, and truly had a wonderful time.

Again, many thanks to the Masons of Nebraska and to Brother Akram as well, for the many new friendships I made this week.

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A mythic past. A visionary future. A legendary brotherhood.

Freemasonry is the world's largest, oldest and best-known gentleman's fraternity. It is based on the medieval stonemason guilds who built the great castles and cathedrals of Europe. Modern Freemasons use the tools, traditions and terminology of those earlier stonemasons as allegories for building temples in the hearts of men.

It's said that we are a secret society. We do indeed have secrets—secrets that each individual man has to discover for and about himself.

At its core, Freemasonry is simply an attempt to make the world a better place, one man at a time. For that man, it can become as simple or as complicated as he himself desires. It's not for everybody. Maybe it's for you.

"Brother Chris Hodapp's [blog]...is thought provoking and is often the first place on the web where new ideas and matters of interest are posted."

He spent twenty three years in advertising as a commercial filmmaker for Dean Crow Productions, shooting and editing close to 1,000 commercials, music videos and feature films. He has written scripts for corporate and non-profit clients, and his voice has appeared in many television and radio commercials.

Chris received his college education at Indiana University, the University of Southern California, Los Angeles Valley College, California State University at Northridge, and Indiana/Purdue University at Indianapolis.

For those who really care about such things, as a Freemason he is a Past Master of Broad Ripple Lodge #643 and of Lodge Vitruvian #767, Free & Accepted Masons of the State of Indiana; and a member Internet Lodge #9659 in the Province of East Lancashire of the United Grand Lodge of England. He is also an honorary member of Vincennes Lodge No. 1, Plymouth-Kilwinning Lodge #149, Ancient Landmarks Lodge #319, Garfield Lodge #569, and Logan Lodge #575 in Indiana; African Lodge #459, Prince Hall Affiliation, in Boston, Massachusetts; and the Grand Lodge of New Mexico AF&AM.

He was the editor and a contributor to "Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith"by the Knights of the North, a Masonic leadership think-tank. He has written for Indianapolis Monthly, Masonic Magazine, Templar History, the Scottish Rite Journal, the Knight Templar Magazine, the Indiana Freemason , the Phylaxis, and numerous other publications.

Hodapp and Alice Von Kannon developed episode outlines for the History Channel program, Brad Meltzer's Decoded in 2010, and contributed material on conspiracies and secret societies for TruTV and the American Heroes Channel. They have both appeared on National Public Radio, the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and the American Heroes Channel - most recently in 2017 on America: Facts vs Fiction.

I am a Freemason and a member of both the regular, recognized Grand Lodge of Indiana F&AM and the United Grand Lodge of England. However, unless otherwise attributed, the opinions expressed in this blog are my own, or of others expressing theirs by posting comments. I do not in any way represent the official positions of my lodges or Grand Lodges, any associated organization of which I may or may not be a member, or the fraternity of Freemasonry as a whole.

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